Lucy Steeds on The Artist

In this episode of Tom’s Book Club, Lucy Steeds discusses her debut novel The Artist, winner of both the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2025 and Waterstones Book of the Year 2025.Set in Provence in 1920, The Artist follows Ettie, a young woman living in the shadow of her uncle, the celebrated painter Edouard Tartuffe. When an ambitious journalist arrives at the isolated farmhouse hoping to interview the elusive artist, long-buried secrets begin to surface over the course of one sweltering summer.In this conversation, Lucy Steeds talks about writing from dual perspectives, capturing the sensory atmosphere of 1920s France, and how synesthesia shaped the novel’s vivid descriptions and emotional texture. The episode also explores creativity, power, and the tension between artistic genius and those forced to support it from the margins. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.